Officials from India, France, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) convened virtually on Wednesday for a trilateral focal points meeting, as announced by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The discussions focused on collaborative efforts outlined in the Joint Roadmap agreed upon in February 2023. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal took to social media platform X to report on the meeting.

“Discussions covered progress in trilateral cooperation as per the Joint Roadmap agreed in Feb 2023, including in areas of economy, infrastructure, innovation, energy, environment, culture, education & P2P exchanges,” the post said.

This virtual meeting builds upon the momentum established during the first trilateral dialogue held in February 2023, which was attended by Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra. That initial meeting explored potential cooperation in defense, energy, environment, innovation, and people-to-people exchanges.

The trilateral initiative, formally established in September 2022 during a meeting of the three nations’ foreign ministers at the UN General Assembly in New York, aims to foster international stability and prosperity.

Key focus areas of the trilateral cooperation include energy collaboration, particularly in solar and nuclear sectors, climate change mitigation, biodiversity protection, and sustainable development projects.

The three countries planned to explore the possibility of working with the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) to pursue concrete, actionable projects on clean energy, the environment, and biodiversity.

They have also committed to aligning their economic, technological, and social policies with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

They have also pledged support for initiatives such as the UAE-led Mangrove Alliance for Climate and the India-France-led Indo-Pacific Parks Partnership.

(Inputs from ANI)